Stepside beds and dually fender repair. SMC not fiberglass..

[Hipster]

I use the Evercoat SMC resin. Milled fiber or cabosil if I need to make it a filler. Chopped strand mat or bi-axial cloth for strength if I need to make part of it. Also I always try to reinforce the back side of the repair.

It's a much better method then using the dual mix catridge crap that's labeled for both fiberglass and SMC such as Fusor and 3M.

 

[SB71]

Is a 1997 stepside made out of SMC or fiberglass as well? I feel foolish asking such but I really don't know. Thanks for any replies.
Edit: Nevermind it's SMC. I didn't know that. Ya learn something every day.

 

[s98gmc]

I'm fairly confident in saying it's SMC.

I also want to add, in 2017 I had my 91 GMC stepside repainted. My uncle and I did the body work and I paid a shop to finish the job. It was not a body shop, but a repair shop that does some painting on the side. It turned out good enough for what I wanted but far from show quality. I bought it to drive and the body is over 30 years old, but completely rust free in an area of the country where this is exceedingly rare. Bolts are easy to remove! I digress. Anyway, I used the Marine Tex suggestion in this thread to repair separation between previously installed step shave panels and the original bed side. It's held up great. I just should have made more effort to reinforce the front side because the paint cracked.

 

[Hipster]

I'm fairly confident in saying it's SMC.

the paint cracked.

Kinda why I recommend doing it the way I suggested, which is in line with the original post.With resins that are SMC specific such as the Evercoat product and using either chopped strand mat or milled fiberglass as fillers. You can take chopped strand mat and roll it between gloved fingers and add it to resin to make it a filler material or use Cabosil.

You can come up with cracks when you use dissimilar materials that expand and contract at different rates. Wiping with degreaser in between lay-ups is key to achieve success with SMC.

What I got from your post is that Marine -tex doesn't work all that well so suggesting that......well.......others will fail also..... You're suggesting Marine -Tex worked though it didn't work for you.

 

[PWC Repair]

I own and operate a jet ski repair shop. I keep my repairs on the mechanical side BUT, I DO hull repairs on my own projects. MANY different older watercraft have SMC hulls. West Systems epoxy resin is a well known product for SMC repairs but not readily available in my area. I've used "Amazing" clear casting resin for years that is on the shelf at your local Hobby Lobby at a reasonable price. My repairs have held up just fine, many in the underwater suction area of the jet pump inlet! Compare the data sheets on both products and you'll see they are almost exactly the same composition. There are some table top epoxies that are as well. I use 1/4" chopped glass as a thickener to make a 'filler' type product. Just remember to give the epoxy resin a good week to cure out or you'll have sticky clogged up sandpaper.